CATTACK!

Soon (sooner than I’d like 😉), we will be dropping our daughter, Kate, at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, CA. Kate LOVES cats, so I am posting a cat poem today in honor of her departure.

It also seemed apropos to share a cat poem because I am going to start prepping my cat chapbook for publication. Cat Show is the working title of this chapbook, and I’m going to include a piece of original cat-themed art by each of my children in the chapbook as well 😺

Today’s poem is CATTACK! This whimsical tribute will appear in Cat Show as well as in my fourth full book of poetry (slated for publication in 2024). Last night, a title for my fourth book hit me out of the blue: The Anonymity of Waiting. Typically, I entitle my poetry collections after one of the poems in the collection. This time, I have no poem with that title (but I am thinking about trying to write a poem based on the title. We’ll see if that works out 😉).

One last note about CATTACK!—cats are lurking throughout the structure of the poem, and in two different ways. I don’t think they’re too hard to spot, but I want to see if readers can point them out. Put your findings in the comments!

CATTACK!

Cats are trained, conniving
assassins.  Take care, as
they can appear totally

casual and then commando
attack their carefully acquired
target. Cats’ angry talons

carve and tatter clothes,
arms, toes, couches—anything 
they come across.  They

can acrobatically tackle children,
assault toys, crush arachnids, 
turn cartwheels, and traumatize

canaries.  Acrimonious talkshow critics 
allege that cats are 
terrorists.  Critics are totally

clueless about the calamity
awaiting them.  Continue alleging,
talkshow critics!  And then

CRY as the cat 
assassins take captives away,
(take catnaps), and then

(clean all their coats) 
AND THEN cut all 
those cat-accusing throats!